


Notes

by thepessimist



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, Happy Birthday, M/M, Sorry im late, ennotana fluff, im always late, its a boat load of fun, my lovely boy, the entire team gets in on the shenanigans, yay it's Tanaka's birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 08:52:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10082282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepessimist/pseuds/thepessimist
Summary: It seemed like Tanaka was going to spend his birthday alone, until a note appears.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Ugh I'm two days late, but happy birthday Tanaka! Sorry this is late.

“It’s seriously ok don’t worry about it.” Tanaka felt like he repeated himself a hundred times just this morning.

“But I feel bad Ryuu!” Noya squealed, latching onto his shoulder, a pout threatening to form on his lips. “You’re gonna be alone on your birthday.”

“Yeah, so?” Tanaka responded, brushing Noya off both physically and metaphorically. “I’ll finally get to catch up on all my TV shows.” When Noya didn’t look entirely convinced he added, “And I’ll get to do it all without wearing any pants.” He pulled on his volleyball shorts for emphasis, smiling brightly at Noya, who was still inspecting him, eyebrows scrunched together.

“If you say so,” Noya sighed, zipping up his bag as he finally broke his staredown. “We’re still on for the arcade tomorrow though, right?”

“Of course!” Tanaka smiled even brighter than before.

“Good!” Noya shouted as he raced to the door, sprinting out, even though his shoes were still untied. “Now hurry up and put a shirt on, so we can play. You know Daichi is picky about dress code.”

Tanaka waited until Noya was completely out of view and hearing distance, before letting the smile slip off his face and a heavy sigh fall out of his lungs. He pouted at the shoe rack in disappointment. It wasn’t that he was disappointed with Noya or his mom, just the situation in general. Tanaka always looked forward to spending his birthday with his family, but everyone had last minute work, leaving him to laze around in his underwear for an entire lonely night.

“Why so serious, birthday boy?”

A faraway voice broke his concentration. Tanaka looked up. Ennoshita was standing by the door with an amused expression, a ghost of a smirk on his lips. He hip checked Tanaka as he went to change next to him. “Did you not get enough pork buns this morning?”

Tanaka shook his head with a smile. “Nah, it’s something else.”

Ennoshita raised an eyebrow at him to continue, before facing forward and casually pulling off his shirt. Tanaka eyes strained in effort not to follow the lines of his ribs. Concentrate Ryuu. You can do it.

“Imma be alone tonight,” was the best he could manage, before allowing himself a little peak at the curve of Ennoshita’s spine, which unfortunately was quickly covered by a practice shirt.

“Oh really?” his response came out muffled as he pulled his t-shirt over his head. Once his head was through and his hair sticking up everywhere (Tanaka’s fingers itched to flatten it), he turned back to Tanaka. “Why’s that?” His expression was no longer teasing, but actual concern etched its way into the lines of his face.

“My mom had to work last minute, same with my dad and Saeko has night classes,” Tanaka listed in the same monotone voice he used with Noya.

“How ‘bout Noya?”

“He thought I was gonna be busy so he made plans with his family and I can’t tell him to back out of them now,” Tanaka answered, shrugging.

Ennoshita looked at him thoughtfully, eyes squinted slightly like Tanaka was a math problem that he couldn’t quite solve. “So you’ve got no plans then?”

“Well I’ve planned a little me time.” Tanaka smirked. He really didn’t want Ennoshita also feeling bad for him. “I could use some, ya know?”

“Me time,” Ennoshita repeated, looking confused, but then his eyes widened with realization. “Oh, oh.” He patted Tanaka on the shoulder. “You enjoy your ‘me time’, ok Tanaka? But next time keep it to yourself.” And walked away, making it Tanaka’s turn to be confused, staring at his retreating form.

“Dude, did you just tell Ennoshita that you were gonna masturbate tonight?”

Tanaka snapped his neck to look at Kinoshita sitting in the corner of the clubroom, a wide grin on his face.

“No!” Tanaka denied, horrified. “Is that what he thought?”

“That’s kinda what it sounded like,” Narita inputted from the other side of the room as Kinoshita nodded in agreement.

“Yeah that’s definitely what he thinks.”

“Shit. Really?” Tanaka gaped at both of them, hoping they’d break character. When both of them nodded back with smiles stretching wider and wider, he jumped up kicking the club door open. Oh god, Ennoshita probably thought he was some sort of pervert.

“Wait! Ennoshita! I didn’t mean- look what I said-”

“Tanaka put a fucking shirt on!”

 

* * *

 

 

After the morning’s rather interesting “Masturbation Debacle” as Suga put it, practice went on quite normally. That is, until it was time to change and get ready for the rest of the school day.

Tanaka sighed, mumbling something about how his birthday should be a goddamn national holiday, as he walked over to his stuff. But something made him stop abruptly, causing Noya to bump into him with a squeal. Tanaka ignored him though, instead choosing to stare at his school bag, or more specifically what was on top of his school bag.

A small square note with the number 1 written on it boldly, was sitting neatly on his pile of belongings.

“Oooo what’s that,” Noya cooed, snatching the note up to inspect it closer and then let out a gasp as he opened it up. “It’s in English!”

“Hey that's mine!” Tanaka said, wrestling the paper from the other boy’s grip as the rest of the volleyball club watched in amusement. “It was on my stuff!”

Noya finally relented when Tanaka promised he could read it with him. Most of the other boys in the club had also huddled around in curiosity as Tanaka straightened out the letter, all straining to get a glimpse. He glared up at them, but none of them moved so he sighed and placed it on the floor for all of them to read. Noya was right; it was written in English.

It read:

_Dear Tanaka,_

_Happy birthday! I wrote you this note because I think you need to practice your english, but also because I a too shy to say it to you. I r ally like you. So I want to give you a pr sent. This no e has the first clue to it. Good luck!_

The only lines in Japanese was written neatly at the bottom: ‘the clue is in what’s missing.’ And ‘your next clue is where you sleep when you’re not supposed.’

“Oh my god,” Noya gasped as everyone finished reading. “You have a secret admirer! Ryuu!” He shook Tanaka hard, but he was too dazed to care. “A girl is in love with you!”

“Ahhh Tanaka-senpai that’s so cool!” Hinata squealed. “Of course you have an admirer.”

“I wonder who it could be?” Yamaguchi said, tilting his head to the side to get a better look. “I mean they never said they were a girl!”

“You’re right!” Kinoshita said, smiling a bit too happily for Tanaka’s taste, but before he could say anything Ennoshita cut him off with a pointed look.

“That doesn’t matter right now,” He said, his voice teetering the edge of harsh. “Why don’t we focus on the clue first?”

“Yeah! Chikara’s right!” Noya agreed. “They’ll probably show themself when they give you your gift! But i think it’s a girl.” He grabbed the note and waved it around the circle of boys. “I mean look at how neat the handwriting is!”

“Hey now,” Suga scolded. “Asahi has the neatest handwriting I’ve ever seen, but he’s a dude.” He turned to wink at Asahi. “Trust me; I know.”

Noya also turned, to a now very red Asahi. “Does that mean you wrote the note Asahi? Cause i fully support you in wha-”

“No! No no no,” Asahi rambled, waving his arms around in distress, while Daichi and Suga cracked up next to him. “Not that you aren't great Tanaka! It's just not me. Not that I wouldn’t- just that-”

“Okay I’m gonna stop this train wreck before it gets any worse,” Daichi interrupted, slapping Asahi on the back. “Tanaka we should figure out the clue quickly or we’ll be late for class.”

Tanaka was too busy thinking about whether or not he’d mind if the note was from Asahi (his conclusion was that he didn’t; Asahi had pretty hair and killer jump serves) to register Daichi’s statement fully.

“Huh? Oh yeah, the clue.” He fumbled with the letter for a bit. “The ‘clue is in what’s missing.’ That’s the hint they gave.”

“Hmmm,” Suga hummed leaning over to get a better look. “Well it looks like there’s misspelled words. Maybe that’s what they’re talking about.”

Suddenly Tsukishima, who for the most part had been glowering in the background, marched his way to Tanaka, holding out his hand.

“Give it here,” he said calmly, expression almost bored.

“No! Why?” Tanaka screeched, holding the note to his chest. “You’re probably gonna rip it up.”

“As much as I’d like to, if I did that I’d have to deal with your whining,” Tsukishima drawled, still holding his palm out. “I’m going to solve it instead to put an end to this nonsense.”

Tanaka gazed at him suspiciously, eyes darting up and down, then slowly handed him the note when he deemed Tsukishima worthy of holding it.

Everyone watched as Tsukishima took a red pen from his shirt pocket and proceeded to start writing all over the note, using the wall as support.

“Hey what are y-”

“Just shut up,” Tsukishima snapped not bothering to glance up from his writing. He finished within a minute handing back the note to Tanaka saying, “I hope she hates volleyball.”

Everyone hunched over Tanaka’s shoulder to get a better look at what Tsukishima had written. He had corrected each of the words, filling whatever letter was missing and then wrote them neatly in order to spell out-

“Meet!” Tanaka screamed and then turned to Tsukishima, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. “That’s the first clue!”

“You’re a goddamn genius, Tsukki!” Noya said as he had also taken the liberty of hanging off the boy, who stood stiff as a board.

“It wasn’t that difficult,” Tsukishima insisted, trying to wiggle out of Tanaka and Noya’s grip, but both were unrelenting.

“It doesn’t matter. You solved it, Tsukki! Thanks!” Tanaka then smacked a kiss on Tsukishima’s cheek in pure delight and finally relinquished his hold. Tsukishima, to his credit, barely flinched and only turned the slightest bit of red, before stomping out of the clubroom, leaving Yamaguchi to scramble after him.

The rest of the team slowly made their way to their class, Tanaka still fumbling with the note.

“‘Your next clue is where you sleep when you’re not supposed,” He read again, tapping his chin. “Where could that be? I fall asleep everywhere!”

“I thought that one was obvious,” Kinoshita said with a smirk, “I mean you’re always sleeping in class.”

Tanaka didn’t even bother denying it. He was always sleeping in class, but that wasn’t his fault; class was just boring as fuck and he had better things to do with his time.

“So what? Ya think it’s gonna be in my class?” Tanaka asked.

“Yeah probably,” Narita responded. “I mean they’d want to put them in places you’d actually go, right?”

“I guess.”

It turned out Kinoshita and Narita were right. After searching for a bit, Tanaka found another note, this time with the number 2 written on it, taped underneath his desk.

He looked around the room, making sure no one was watching him, before opening and reading the second note that read:

_Yay! You found me, hopefully during homeroom. I hope your birthday is going well! The second clue is similar to the first. All you have to do is fill in the blank:_

**DO RE __ FA**

_Good luck!_

_Your next clue is in something that always takes you where you need to go and it will tell you where you need to go._

Only the actual clue was in english this time, but it might as well have been gibberish.

“Do, Re, Fa,” Tanaka muttered repeatedly. “Do, Re, Fa, what the hell? Is this some kinda code?”

He mulled over the words throughout all his morning classes, until Noya came by his desk during break.

“Hey man,” he said, swinging a leg over the chair in front of Tanaka, sitting in it backwards with his arms resting on the back of it. “Is that the next clue?” He pointed at the paper Tanaka was gazing at so intently.

“Yup.” He flipped the note so that Noya could read it better. “Can’t really figure it out. It seems like random words.”

“Do, Re, Fa.” Noya said, tapping against the desk with every syllable. “I dunno man. Why don’t we ask Suga or somethin’?”

“Hey that’s a good idea; the more people we get in on this the easier it should be.” Tanaka jumped up, pulling Noya with him, who groaned in protest. “Let’s go!”

“Ugh, now?” Noya plopped back down in the seat with a huff. “I just walked down here.”

“Yes, now!” Tanaka exasperated, “C’mon the quicker we figure these clues out the sooner we find out who’s the mystery girl!”

That got Noya’s interest as he practically bounded out the door. Tanaka had to jog to keep up with him, but fell into his familiar step pattern quickly.

“So do you think she’s in the college prep class?” Noya asked, skipping every other step as he bounced up the staircase. “She seems pretty smart with the notes and clues and stuff.”

“Maybe,” Tanaka pondered. ”She’s probably in our grade too, right? I mean she knew where I sat and everything.”

“Yeah! She’s gotta be in our year,” Noya agreed, spinning around excitedly and perking up with realization. “Hey! Maybe Chikara knows her! He’s in the college prep class!”

“You’re right!” Tanaka exclaimed. Ennoshita definitely seemed weird this morning. He probably knew something about it or maybe he knows who sent the note. “Let’s find him after we crack this clue.” He ran up the rest of the stairs, leaving Noya to catch up. “Hurry up! I wanna get some food in me at sometime.”

“Aye aye Captain!”

They found Suga giggling with Asahi and Daichi at his desk, all three of them hunched over whispering to each other.

“Watcha doin’?” Noya popped his head onto Asahi’s shoulder. They all jumped at the appearance of Tanaka and Noya.

“Uh n-nothing,” Asahi stuttered as Daichi and Suga tried really hard to appear casual.

“What are you two up to?” Suga asked clearly avoiding the question.

“Ryuu got another note!” Noya said, reaching over to pluck said note right out of Tanaka’s hands. “We thought you could help us.”

“Oooo lemme see.” Suga unfolded the note and began to read, Asahi and Daichi peering over his shoulder.

“Do, Re, Fa?” Daichi read. “What the heck does that mean?”

“Exactly,” Tanaka grumbled, throwing his hands in the air. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Suga just giggled. “I think you mean doe, ray, faa,” He sang the notes in a sweet tone. “So that means what missing is-”

He uncapped the marker sitting on the desk and wrote in the blank, in capital letters:

**ME**

He handed the note back to Tanaka with a smirk. “There’s your next clue.”

Tanaka looked at the word for a bit, like the letters themselves were a puzzle before saying, “Meet me. She wants to meet somewhere!” He turned to Noya in shock.

“Oh my god! Dude, Ryuu you’ve got a hot date tonight!” He slapped Tanaka on the arm. “We gotta find the next clue.”

Tanaka nodded in agreement, turning back to the paper in his hands. “Yes, of course! The next clue is ‘in something that always takes you where you need to go and it will tell you where you need to go’ apparently. What the fuck?” He looked back up at the others for an answer but they seemed just as confused

“Well,” Daichi said evenly. “It seems like this next clue will be about where you guys are gonna meet, and is in something that can take you places. How do you usually get places?”

“A train.” Noya provided.

“A car maybe?” Asahi suggested.

“Maybe a bike?” Suga added.

Tanaka stared at them. “I usually walk everywhere, but I’m pretty sure there’s not a note stuck to the bottom of my foot.”

“No there probably isn’t,” Daichi agreed, “But maybe its not that then.”

“But all the notes have been in the school.” Suga brought up a good point. “So that rules out any sort of vehicle and Tanaka doesn’t ride a bike to school, right?”

Tanaka nodded in response, not really sure where to take it from there. Asahi apparently did though.

“Wait, what if they are talking about walking!” He said excitedly. “But not about Tanaka’s feet.”

“I don’t walk on my fuckin’ hands man.”

“No- no that’s not what I meant.” He sounded shyer now, looking to Daichi to see if he should continue. Daichi gave him a smile. “What if it’s his shoes?” He searched for approval but was met with rather blank stares. “Ya know, they always take you where you need to go and you have multiple pairs at school.”

“Yeah! Oh my god, Asahi, that has to be it!” Noya screamed, grabbing on to Asahi’s face with both hands and the attention of the rest of the room. “You are so smart!” Asahi blushed hard and seemed to try to stutter out a response, but Noya kept steamrolling and turned back to Tanaka, who wasn’t sure exactly what was happening anymore. “The next note is probably in your volleyball shoes!”

“Why are we still here then?” Tanaka asked, jumping up and hugging all three third years at once, Noya trying to get in on the action from the outside. “Thanks guys! See ya at practice! C’mon Noya we still got time before lunch ends.”

And with that the whirlwind duo pranced out of the room, giggling about shoes and girls, leaving a very frazzled but strangely gratified group of third years in their wake.

 

* * *

 

 

“It’s here!” Tanaka exclaimed, pulling a note out from his left shoe. “I can’t believe it! Asahi was right!”

The note was the same as the other two, except this time the number 3 was written on the front and it seemed slightly heavier in Tanaka’s hand.

“Open it up then.” Noya had made his way over to him and he could feel him basically vibrating with excitement.

Tanaka unfolded the note. Another paper fluttered to the floor. Noya picked it up as Tanaka read the note out loud.

“ _Here’s the where. To find the when, just get your favorite snack after practice. Hope to see you soon_.”

He looked up at Noya to find him frowning at the little square paper that had been wrapped in the note.

“What’s that?”

Noya held it out for Tanaka to see. “It’s just a picture of a tree.”

Tanaka studied the picture. It was quite an artistic shot. The light of a setting sun shone through the branches, causing a sharp contrast between the harsh shadows and the soft light. The only thing that was off was the red jacket tied around the middle of the trunk. He had never seen this tree before and wondered if he should’ve.

“Do ya’ recognize it?” Noya asked. Tanaka shook his head in response. “Well, I don’t either, but someone else might.”

“Yeah let’s go back up to Daichi, Suga and Asahi,” Tanaka agreed, taking the photo from Noya to study it more, as if he would suddenly recognize the tree at a closer look. “They helped with the last clue so maybe they could figure this out too.”

They made their way out of the club room but stopped abruptly when they spotted the other second years hovering around suspiciously, occupied by a seemingly heated argument.

“Hey guys!” Noya greeted, clambering down the stairs towards them. Their conversation cut short as they smiled hesitantly at the other boys.

“Hey Noya, Tanaka!” Kinoshita responded. “What’s up?”

“I got another note,” Tanaka announced, waving around the picture. “You guys know where this tree at."

Kinsohita and Narita huddled closer, inspecting the photo while Ennoshita stayed rather aloof.

"It's a nice picture," Kinoshita muttered, looking back up at Tanaka. "But I don't recognize it. Do you Narita?"

"Nope," Narita responded. "Have you asked around?"

"We haven't gotten a chance to. We just found the note." Tanaka noticed Ennoshita try to back away. "Hey Chikara!" He said, approaching the other boy, crowding next to him to shove the photo under his nose. "You recognize this?"

Ennoshita looked nervous; Tanaka could tell. His hair was fluffed up like he had never flattened from changing this morning and he was blinking rapidly. Tanaka stood close enough that he could see his eyelashes flutter against his cheek with every blink and the light pink that always seemed to color Ennoshita's cheekbones. Tanaka found himself hoping that his mystery girl, or whoever it was, was as pretty as Ennoshita.

Ennoshita stared at the photo intently. "It's-it's," he began to stutter. Tanaka knew Ennoshita knew something about all of this.

"Yeah?" Tanaka egged him on, licking his lips in anticipation.

"It's," Ennoshita hesitated again, eyes flickering to Tanaka then back to the photo. Tanaka waited patiently, but Ennoshita just cleared his throat and backed away. "It's a tree," He said rather lamely, fumbling with a loose thread on his sweater. "I gotta go." He turned to leave, but Tanaka latched onto his pinky finger.

"Hey wait! I wanted to ask you somethin'," Tanaka said. Ennoshita stopped and looked back with an eyebrow raised. "Me and Noya were thinkin' that you might know the person sending these things." He turned to Noya for support and because Noya was everything good in the world he nodded, quite enthusiastically.

"Yup," Noya said, stepping forward. "The notes are pretty smart and they seem to be in our grade! So maybe it's a girl in your class?"

Ennoshita stared at them and then wiggled his fingers out of Tanaka's grip. "I'm not sure if any of them know you," he said finally, "But I'll keep an eye for anything." He left before Tanaka even had a chance to call him back.

"What the hell is his problem?" Tanaka asked into the space Ennoshita had occupied only moments ago.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Kinoshita teased. Tanaka turned back to him, eyebrows raised. "Not important right now." He patted Tanaka's arm lightly. "We've got a clue to solve. C'mon let's ask around."

Tanaka wanted to scream at him, tell him _of course it's important; it's Ennoshita_ , instead he found himself nodding along. "Yeah, let's go."

They were extremely unsuccessful the rest of lunch, none of the third years could recognize it at all. They even bumped into Yamaguchi and Tsukki, but all they got was a shrug from the latter and an apology from the former. Tanaka asked his classmates as well, but no one seemed to know where the tree was or had ever even seen it. He got a small hint when he bumped into Yachi before practice. As they walked to the gym together, she said she remembers passing by a tree similar to the one in the photo, but she couldn't remember where or when.

"Sorry Tanaka-san I wish I could be more help." She looked so sad, Tanaka felt bad for even asking her. He assured her it was no big deal, but pouted at the picture all the way to the club room.

Hinata approached him as soon as he entered.

"Tanaka-senpai!" He yelped, bouncing excitedly, Kageyama looming next to him like a shadow. "Kinoshita said you got another note!"

"Yup!" Tanaka felt the need to chirp back. Hinata's energy was always so infectious, whatever sour mood that had plagued him since his awkward encounter with Ennoshita and his frustration with the unsolved clue seem to siphon away. "But I can't seem to figure this one out."

"Oohhh!" Hinata's eyes were big round, golden like mini suns. "Can I see it?"

"Sure," Tanaka replied, pulling the photo out of his back pocket. "Apparently I'm supposed to meet them here."

"Hey! I know that tree!" Hinata squealed. "I pass by it on my way to school." He reached back to get Kageyama's attention, but ended up hitting him in the face.

"Idiot!" Kageyama tugged at Hinata's hair in retaliation. "I'm right here."

"Hey, I didn't know," Hinata whined, but then quickly changed subjects pointing at the picture again. "Isn't that the tree? When you're going to my house you gotta pass by it, right Kageyama?"

Kageyama squinted at the photo like he wanted to spike it, instead he nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, It's at the entrance of a really creepy forest. I would advise not going over there, Tanaka-san."

"Of course I'm going!" Tanaka gasped, clutching the picture to his chest. "The love of my life is waiting for me and I'm not scared of some trees. Just tell me how to get there, ok?"

 After a lot of bickering and pinching between Kageyama and Hinata and Tanaka promising to buy both of them pork buns, a sloppy list of directions found its way into Tanaka's backpack.

"You two are the best!" He said, rubbing the top of both of their heads. The first years responded quite like eager puppies. "You can have two pork buns!"

"Don't ya gotta meet up with mystery girl though?" Noya asked. "Do you have time for pork buns?"

"Actually," Tanaka said, unfolding the note again, "She said I should get my favorite snack, so I can find out the time to meet up at! So really I'm supposed to get pork buns anyway."

"Dude I can't wait for you to meet her," Noya said excitedly. "It feels like we've been waiting for forever."

"I know right?" Tanaka sighed. "She's going to be perfect."

Before Noya could add to his day dream though, Daichi approached them with an amused expression. "As much as I love the gossip session, we've still got practice." He had that sickly sweet smile on. The one where it was an order disguised as a joke. "Now get your butts in the gym."

They all got their butts in the gym, but then Tanaka noticed one particularly nice butt was missing.

"Hey where's Ennoshita?"

"Oh he's not feeling well so he's gonna skip for today," Narita provided rather quickly. "That's why he was acting weird earlier."

"Oh. He's planning to come tomorrow though, right? He's not quitting or anything, yeah?" Tanaka inquired, concerned that Ennoshita was planning to leave the club again for whatever reason.

"Yeah yeah, of course," Kinoshita assured. "He's just not well today."

Tanaka wasn't entirely convinced, but he pretended to be anyway. It didn't seem like he was going to get a real answer from the two of them. The rest of practice went smoothly even though he was on edge. He just wanted to get today over with so he could get the girl and hopeful check up on Ennoshita too.

The entire team basically ran down to the corner store. Daichi yelling at them, telling them that the pork buns weren't going to run away. He was wrong though. They reached the store and Ukai just frowned at them.

"Sorry guys, but someone bought me out," He said, showing his empty display case. "But they did tell me to give you this." He thrust yet another note at Tanaka. This one had the number 4 written on it.

"Can you tell us who gave it to you?" Noya asked, leaning over the counter to getting into the coach's face.

"No," Ukai said, pushing Noya away to a more appropriate distance. "They said they didn't want you to know, but that you'd find out later tonight."

The team deflated with disappointed, but then Tanaka started to unfold the note and curiosity started to buzz around the group. They all crowed around trying to get a look at it, until Noya held out a hand.

"Hey back off," he yelled, waving his arms around like he was Tanaka's miniature bodyguard. "Give the guy some room."

"Read it out loud!" said a voice in the back, that sounded suspiciously like Tsukishima, but he wouldn't be caught dead caring about such frivolous things.

"Ok ok," Tanaka exasperated and then he began to read. " _This is the final note. I'm glad you cared enough to look for it. Now for your final clue: x usually marks the spot, but in this case it marks the time. Good luck! P.S. at least try to solve it by yourself_." He let out a small, horrified gasp.

"What happened? What'd she write?" Noya asked, concerned.

Tanaka simply held out the note for everyone to see. "It's a- it's a math problem."

 Noya, Hinata, and Kageyama all let out sympathetic groans, while the rest of the team cracked up.

"Guys this isn't funny!" Tanaka whined. "If you don't help me I'll never meet up with her."

Tsukishima just snorted, walking towards the door. "Looks like you'll have to find a new Mrs. Tanaka then. I think I've had enough fun for today," he said, jacket swishing dramatically as the door shut behind him.

The remaining team members were a bit more helpful though.

Daichi and Suga promised to help guide him through it, while the rest provided moral support, except for Kinoshita. He boldly claimed he was only there to laugh at Tanaka's misery. Noya had to hold Tanaka back from giving Kinoshita his own sort of misery. Even with all that, Tanaka managed to finish within thirty minutes.

"7.5," He proclaimed loudly to the vicinity of the store. "X equals 7.5!"

Suga leaned over to check his work. "Yeah, I think you're right." And then glanced up at the clock. "Just in time too."

"You should have enough time to go home and get ready for your date," Noya said, wiggling his eyebrows. "I can't believe this is actually happening. You gotta call me if anything happens ok?"

"Obviously!" Tanaka huffed, tucking the last solved note into his back pocket. "It's gonna be freaking awesome!"

"Don't be overexcited," Daichi advised. "You don't want to hype yourself up too much."

"Yeah and you don't want to seem like you're overcompensating," Suga added.

"But you also don't wanna act too shy," Asahi pointed out. "Then she'll just think you're not interested."

"And you are definitely interested," Noya said, patting his shoulder. "She's gonna be future Mrs. Tanaka for all you know."

"That's right," Kinoshita agreed, "Take a breath mint just in case it goes extremely well."

"Actually I have some," Narita said, digging into his pocket and then slapping a small box into Tanaka's hand. Tanaka was too shocked by the sudden influx of advice to do anything but accept it. "Here ya go."

"Guys I think you're freaking him out," Yamaguchi said from the corner. Tanaka had almost forgotten he was there. He had assumed he had left with Tsukishima. Yamaguchi then leaned over with a smirk, stage whispering, "Go before they start doing your hair."

Tanaka let out a nervous laugh at that. "Thanks guys, for everything," he said, meaning it from the bottom of his heart. "Don't know how I'd do anything without you guys." He started to exit with a small wave, before he got too soppy, but a gruff voice stopped him.

"Tanaka-senpai," Kageyama said, twitching a little like he was nervous. Tanaka nodded at him to continue. "Just be yourself."

Everyone broke into smiles. Hinata adding, "Yeah! Then she'll definitely fall in love with you!"

Noya gave him one last thumbs up and a pat on the back.

"Go get her champ!"

Tanaka marched out of the store, head held high, and his heart hanging from his sleeves.

 

* * *

 

 

He arrived at the tree exactly at 7:32 pm. He meant to get there a bit earlier, but he had a last minute switch of outfits, deciding that his black button down was a better ' _date me please!_ ' outfit than his white sweater. There was no one there, but there was a note attached to the old red jacket that twisted around the trunk.

'Look up' it said, so Tanaka did. Hanging from the tree branch directly above him was a flashlight with yet another note wrapped around it. He reached up and snatched it down, tearing the note off of the flashlight.

_Follow the arrows._

He turned the flashlight on shining it on the surrounding trees. Sure enough there was a large yellow arrow on the skinny tree a little to his left. He gulped, feeling his stomach twist. Kageyama was right; the forest was kinda creepy. He hesitated at the entrance, wondering if this was all an elaborate prank. Curiosity ended up getting the best of him and he took his first tentative step into the dense woods. Not before calling up back up.

Noya picked up after two rings.

"Hey hey what's up man! Did you kiss her?" was his greeting.

"No, I haven't even met up with her yet."

"What?!"

Tanaka proceeded to explain everything that had happened up until that point, trudging along the pathway as he spoke.

"And now I'm here tryna look for fuckin' arrows in the dark." Tanaka cursed as he tripped over another root. "I dunno man; maybe this is all a prank."

"No way!" Noya disagreed soundly. "Someone would have to really hate you then and you're like the coolest person I know."

"Aww Thanks man!"

After some more ego building, Noya convinced Tanaka to keep going, eager to finally find the woman of his dreams, who apparently was tucked deep into this seemingly never ending forest.

"And she'll probably have really nice hair and a pretty smile," Noya was saying as Tanaka approached a clearing.

He gasped as he took in his surroundings. In the middle of the bare patch of land was the perfect candle lit picnic, equipped with all of Tanaka's favorite foods.

"No fucking way," he said into the phone. "Noya, I'm going to marry this girl. Holy shit."

"Is it that good?"

"Yeah she thought of everything," He answered, walking over to the picnic blanket, kneeling in the center and then noticed something sitting rather oddly on top of a decadent looking cake. "Shit there's another note."

"Well read it!" Noya insisted, his voice coming out in puffs over the phone.

"Jeez I am," Tanaka replied, tearing into the letter. "You'd think you were the one getting confessed to."

"Out loud," he demanded.

"Good god man; ok here it goes." Tanaka began to read, his heart pumping its way into his throat made it hard for the words to come out. " _'Dear Tanaka, Sorry I lied. This is the final note! Happy Birthday! I hope you liked your present._ ' Yeah I did," Tanaka interrupted the letter reading to appreciate the set up, until Noya let out an impatient huff, so he continued. "' _As I said in my first letter I really like you and wanted to make your day special, since I heard you were going to spend it alone._ '"

"Aww she's so sweet," Noya sniffed. "Perfect girlfriend material."

"I know right?" Tanaka responded before reading the rest of the note. "' _Thank you for playing along with my little game and I hope you aren't disappointed when you find out who this is all from. Happy birthday again! Love_ -"

Tanaka cut himself off before reading the name, not quite believing his eyes. He could hear Noya pestering him for the name on the other side of the phone, but he couldn't really register what he was saying. He swallowed before looking at the letter again. The name had not changed. He tore his eyes away from the letters at the sound of footsteps approaching.

The person smiling nervously under the shadows of the tree confirmed what the paper had already said.

"Noya." His voice felt and sounded like gravel. "I'm going to have to call you back." He hung up his phone without giving Noya a chance to respond, dropping it on the forest floor.

They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, but what was probably all of two seconds. Until finally, Tanaka found the will the speak.

"Ennoshita." The name hung in the air between them. "You?"

"Me." He said, still smiling that small shy smile. It made Tanaka's heart hurt; he wasn't sure if it was a bad thing. In fact he felt a sense of relief as he watched Ennoshita's hair bounce as he walked over to him, plopping down next to him on the blanket. He looked at Tanaka, nervously, curiously.

"Is that ok?" He finally asked all shy-like, brushing his hair behind his ear.

Tanaka found himself nodding along before he could fully process what he meant. "Of course, of course." Tanaka loved spending time with Ennoshita, but he was still a little confused by it all. "But why?"

Ennoshita snorted, "I thought I already told you in the letter."

Tanaka fumbled around for the letter, scanning it quickly, trying to find if he missed anything, until he zeroed in on one word.

"You love me?" His breath hitched on the second word. He still couldn't quite believe it.

"Well love is a strong word." Ennoshita tried to smile, but Tanaka could see it wavering. "It's more of a very strong like."

"A very strong like," Tanaka repeated.

Ennoshita nodded, not meeting Tanaka's eyes as he asked again, softly, "Is that ok?"

Tanaka tapped his chin pretending to think. "I'll give you a 6/10 for the actual confession, but a 10/10 for all of this," he said gesturing to all the food laid out.

"What?" Ennoshita whispered to the blanket. "I'm not joking, you know?"

"I'm not either," Tanaka said seriously and some sort of braver version of himself reached out for Ennoshita's hand that was resting on the blanket. 

"Is this ok?" Tanaka asked, lightly placing his own fingers over Ennoshita's.

Ennoshita still refused to look up at him, but he nodded, eyelids fluttering shut. He  paused as Tanaka tightened his grip ever so slightly, letting out a deep breath before responding. "You don't have to." Ennoshita looked up at Tanaka, eyes somehow glowing in the darkness that surrounded them. "If you don't want- this can just be a friend thing."

"And if I do want?" Tanaka squeezed at his fingers, hoping that it would convey every single jumbled up emotion he was feeling through a tiny gesture.

"Then it's ok." Ennoshita turned his hand over in Tanaka and squeezed back.

"Good." Tanaka couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face as he glanced down at their overlapping hands. When he looked back up, Ennoshita was wearing a matching one. They both sat there smiling at each other, not quite sure what all of this really meant and not really caring all at the same time. They laughed in spite of themselves, feeling too silly to take the moment too seriously.

"Well we better get started on all this food," Tanaka said finally, glancing around at the picnic. "Goddamn Chikara, did you buy out an entire grocery store?"

"Hey!" Ennoshita pouted, hitting Tanaka on the arm lightly. "I know how much you eat. I just wanted to make sure it was enough."

"It's more than enough," Tanaka said eagerly and then dropped his voice to barely a whisper, turning back to face Ennoshita, so that his nose would brush against some of his more fluffy tufts of hair. "Thank you."

Ennoshita's blush was brilliantly beautiful in the dim lighting. "You're welcome," He whispered back. "But Tanaka?"

"Yeah?" Tanaka was distracted by a particularly cute curl at the top of Ennoshita's.

"I can't eat if you're holding my hand like that."

"Oh." Tanaka smirked and held on to Ennoshita's hand tighter as he tried to wiggle. "It looks like I'm gonna have to feed you then." He tore of a small piece from the melon bread sitting in front of him. "Open up, Chikara."

Ennoshita's ears were so red they were practically glowing, but his face was knitted into a deep frown. That's how Tanaka knew he was enjoying all the attention. He pushed the bread at Ennoshita's lips, but they stayed shut.

"Please," Tanaka begged, puppy dog eyes and all. Ennoshita finally opened his mouth just enough for the bread and Tanaka's thumb to slip in. He bit down hard. "Owww," Tanaka whined, clutching his hand to his chest, gazing at Ennoshita warily, who munched happily on the melon bread. "You're mean."

"You're the one who wanted to feed me." Ennoshita pointed out, exuding smugness.

"Fine, you can feed yourself." Tanaka pouted as he let go of Ennoshita's hand, but that didn't stop him from scooting closer to him. As Ennoshita dug into the cooler he brought, Tanaka strategically placed his hand right behind Ennoshita's back, close enough that he could feel his body heat, but not quite touching. Ennoshita didn't saying anything about Tanaka's close proximity, so he stayed there as they ate, leaning on his hand so that he had some sort of bad excuse to be inches from Ennoshita's face.

Tanaka gave no further attempts to feed Ennoshita throughout their meal and instead they fell back into their easy banter. Which meant, Tanaka (mostly) purposely acted like an idiot so he could see that fond little smile grace Ennoshita's lips or his nose scrunch up cutely whenever he said something particularly stupid. As they got through the bulk of the food, Ennoshita pulled out a tablet from his bag and announced that they were going to watch a movie.

"Cool I've been wanting to see this," Tanaka said in awe of how Ennoshita seemed to remember everything he said.

"I know." Ennoshita had a proud little smile, like surprising Tanaka was a present for himself. And Tanaka, not wanting to be out done, tentatively lifted the hand he'd been resting most of his weight on and placed it at the soft arch of Ennoshita's hip. He felt Ennoshita stiffen, but he didn't move away so Tanaka took it as a good sign and leaned in to play with Ennoshita's hair with his nose.

"Watcha' waitin' for," Tanaka said into Ennoshita's temple. "Start the movie."

"Oh yeah." Ennoshita sounded slightly dazed as he pressed play. Somewhere faraway all the stars, planets, and galaxy aligned and Ennoshita leaned back into Tanaka, the curve of his back fitting perfectly into Tanaka's side.

 About halfway into the movie and Tanaka was already completely distracted by Ennoshita. He reacted to everything with his entire body, gasping and jumping at every well conceived plot twist or exciting action scene, entirely enthralled by the film. Tanaka on the other hand was entirely enthralled by the way Ennoshita's ears would twitch ever so slightly as he laughed and just by how freaking soft his hair looked. So Tanaka, obviously unable to resist as he is only but a simple man, took to nuzzling at the side of Ennoshita's hair, who apparently was fond of strawberry shampoo.

" _Tanaka_ ," Ennoshita gasped.

He hadn't noticed that he had paused the movie and Ennoshita was just staring at an un-moving scene. Tanaka took this as his cue to pull Ennoshita closer, tugging around his waist with both arms so that he was in Tanaka's lap, all while he still had his nose buried in Ennoshita's hair. He hummed when he heard Ennoshita say his name again, opening his eyes blearily. Tanaka was met with Ennoshita's face hovering closely, eyes heavy lidded and mouth parted slightly. 

"I haven't given you your other present," he breathed after a few silent moments.

"Yeah?" Tanaka felt drunk; he probably was, off of life, or just Ennoshita himself. "What is it?"

Tanaka shut his eyes as he felt Ennoshita start to lean in, he expected to feel his hot breath against his lips any second, but instead he felt them near his ear, panting harshly.

"You're gonna have to catch me first."

Tanaka let out a surprised huff as he was pushed to the ground and felt Ennoshita leap up off of him. He opened his eyes just in time to see him disappear behind a tree, laughing hysterically.

Tanaka couldn't help but laugh himself, before getting up and sprinting after Ennoshita, deep into the forest and to wherever he might take him.

After he caught up all Tanaka could think was:

_Best. Birthday. Ever._

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah so I was totally supposed to post this on Friday and I've got a list of excuse you probably don't want to hear. But this is not beta read and I wrote it pretty quickly so there's probably some mistakes, so please tell me in the comments if there are any. 
> 
> As always all comments are welcomed and appreciated. Have a lovely day people. 
> 
> the [tumbs](thepessimistsblog.tumblr.com)


End file.
